THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, February 11, 1995 TAG: 9502100040
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A12 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: Medium: 64 lines
The lopsided vote for George F. Allen in Virginia's last gubernatorial election was a clear mandate for abolishing parole and accelerating prison-building in the Old Dominion. Candidate Allen had promised both.
The General Assembly, heeding popular sentiment, subsequently abolished parole for serious offenders. But even before the new law took effect, the Allen-appointed parole board had sharply reduced the rate at which inmates were paroled and the backlog of felons awaiting transfer from overcrowded local jails skyrocketed. That's because the state lacks prison space for them - a worrisome situation detailed this week by staff writers Joe Jackson and Laura LaFay. The overloaded jails threaten troubles that neither localities nor the state would welcome - troubles ranging from escapes and riots to lawsuits and court-ordered inmate releases.
A public fed up with the crime plague couldn't care less that murderers, robbers, drug dealers and the like are sleeping on the floors of Virginia jails. But judges are constrained to command relief for inmates confined in unconstitutional ways.
Seven Virginia sheriffs have gone to court to force the state Department of Corrections to remove excess felons from their crammed jails. Some Allen-administration officials say the lawsuits are politically motivated - that Democratic sheriffs are trying to embarrass the Republican governor.
It's true that overpopulated Virginia jails are a long-standing problem. But the sharp drop in parole since Governor Allen took office has made the problem worse. The number of felons held in local jails has more than doubled, from 886 to at least 1,900.
Something will have to give. Florida, abolished parole some years ago. Federal courts thereafter compelled the state to free a large number of inmates because of prison overcrowding.
To forestall hasty prisoner releases, Virginia must quicken its jail- and prison-building pace and expand alternatives to imprisonment for non-violent felons. The General Assembly is moving to do both.
Like nearly every other state (and the federal government), Virginia was already adding prisons before Mr. Allen was elected. Although the overall crime rate has flagged, violent crime - homicide, especially - remains high. That's alarming. So putting violent criminals away for long periods is just about everybody's wish.
How many jails and prisons we will need is not easily calculated. A fresh wave of violent criminals is on the horizon - youngsters from poor, fatherless households who soon will become teenagers. History says a disproportionately large portion of young males from such households will commit crimes demanding lengthy incarceration to protect society.
More community-based police and policing might forestall some of the violence in prospect. But the resources of cities and urbanized counties that will continue to take the brunt of violence are insufficient to underwrite substantially larger police forces.
This is our dilemma: We are frightened by the explosion of violence. But we have yet to provide enough police, courts, jails and prisons to cope with the challenge. Really, who doesn't favor locking up public menaces if that's what it takes to make the streets safer? But there must be places to confine them, and these places cost money - much more, alas, than we are disposed to tax ourselves to spend on them, now or any other time. by CNB